A Wood Netsuke

SIGNED SHOKO (HIDA PROVINCE), EDO PERIOD (EARLY/MID-19TH CENTURY)

Details

A Wood Netsuke
Signed Shoko (Hida Province), Edo Period (Early/Mid-19th Century)
Katabori, stained boxwood; a simply but effectively executed model of a diving woman wearing a startled expression as she is ensnared or embraced by an octopus, its eyes inlaid in dark horn, many possible himotoshi formed by the design, signed with small incised characters under the kimono Shoko
1¾ x 1 3/8in. (4.5 x 3.5cm.)

Lot Essay

Sugaya Shoko of Hida Province has sometimes been identified with Suketada (see Lots 32, 98 and 107) but it is more likely that they are two different artists.¹

1 Joe Earle, Netsuke: Fantasy and Reality in Japanese Miniature Sculpture (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 2001), cat. no. 273.

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